News

Jobs relocation will mean compulsory redundancies (310 words)

The latest chapter in the row over the relocation of jobs from the UK to overseas sites came when the HSBC bank announced last ...

Survey reveals how workers pay high price for long hours (323 words)

The high price paid by the one in four workers that work more than 48 hours a week is exposed in a new survey. ...

Unions plan London weighting action (106 words)

On 16 October some 30,000 postal workers and 60,000 local government workers took a day's strike action in pursuit of their claim for increases ...

Postal workers strike over racism (95 words)

In Wolverhampton 300 postal workers walked out over racist comments on a notice board. The comments were from a survey of staff views of ...

Stoppages over monitoring (43 words)

Workers at the Trelleborg chemicals company in Leicester took strike action after management introduced tags which had to be worn during breaks. The 84 ...

Gender pay gap narrows slightly (331 words)

The gender pay gap has narrowed but progress is still painfully slow, figures from the latest government New Earnings Survey (NES) reveal. ...

Government offers compromise on leave for offshore workers (183 words)

The government is standing by a "compromise" proposal that could give many offshore workers an extra two weeks' on-shore leave, following the extension of ...

Contractor signs two-tier workforce agreement (227 words)

General unions GMB and T&G have negotiated a deal with Compass Group, one of the largest catering and business services contractors in the world, ...

Union news

GMB ends talk of merger with T&G (184 words)

The GMB general union has scotched rumours that it is talking about merging with its larger counterpart, the T&G. ...

Dromey wins election as Woodley's deputy (102 words)

T&G general union official Jack Dromey beat off two left-wing rivals to win the union's deputy general secretary election last month. ...

European news

Italians unite in strike over pensions plans (373 words)

Members of Italy's three main trade union confederations, CGIL, CSIL and UIL, were taking strike action over pensions as Labour Research went to press. ...

French bargaining system to change (120 words)

The French government has proposed major alterations in the country's system of collective bargaining, which has remained largely unchanged for 30 years. ...

Spanish employer jailed for death (131 words)

A Spanish court has condemned an employer to a three-year prison sentence following a fatal accident for which he was held responsible. ...

Car plant stopped over bargaining threat (156 words)

More than 12,000 workers at the DaimlerChrysler car plant in Stuttgart stopped work for an hour last month to protest against the threat to ...

Features

Can work be a place of refuge? (1754 words)

A survey of delegates to a TUC Women's Conference found more than half had either experienced domestic violence or worked with someone who had. ...

Ask the staff if you want productivity (1307 words)

Unions and bosses agree on some parts of the solution to the manufacturing crisis. But they differ sharply on whether it would help to ...

"Harden up skills strategy" say unions (1430 words)

Unions want the government to toughen up its recently announced skills white paper by compelling employers to train their workers and giving workers paid ...

Bosses still get plenty of notice (2034 words)

This month's annual conference of the Confederation of British Industry comes in the midst of attempts by the employers' body to fend off legislation ...

Tribunal rules against rights for over-65s (758 words)

A recent Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruling has dealt a blow to the rights of older workers in a case which saw the government ...

Guidance targets work-related road accidents (661 words)

Work-related road deaths remain the second highest workplace killer after asbestos. Back-up looks at new guidance on work-related road safety. ...

How Training initiative can benefit unions (731 words)

Employer Training Pilots look set to provide the blueprint for a national programme which aims to improve the skills of millions of employees with ...

Law Matters

Legal ruling could boost maternity pay (401 words)

Women on maternity leave will get improved pay rights if the advice of the European Court of Justice's (ECJ) legal advisor is followed when ...

Fire Bill threatens right to strike (136 words)

Firefighters could lose the right to take lawful strike action according to one interpretation of the Fire Services Bill. ...

Bias in law jobs (63 words)

A report by the government-appointed Judicial Appointments Commission has found that the legal profession and the judiciary are infected by "systematic bias" against women ...

Tribunal backs employer over timing of redundancy consultation (198 words)

A recent ruling of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) appears to restrict the extent to which unions might expect to be consulted in the ...

Law Queries

Indirect sex discrimination (152 words)

Our employer has transferred a group of catering staff who are all women from weekly to monthly pay. Other weekly paid workers were not ...

Disability discrimination (175 words)

One of my members has been off work for some time after inhaling a lot of dust at work when building repairs were being ...

Rights when on probation (143 words)

Our employers seem to think that they can terminate the employment of a probationer without resort to normal grievance and disciplinary procedures. Can they ...

Statutory Maternity Pay (174 words)

I will be starting my maternity leave in February 2004. Our annual pay increase is usually effective from the start of the New Year. ...

Offer of money to resign (127 words)

We didn't have a union at our workplace but I tended to speak up for the others when management went too far. My supervisor ...

Health & Safety Matters

Union may ballot over tube safety (340 words)

Last month rail union RMT threatened to ballot members for industrial action over tube privatisation after two derailments in 48 hours. ...

Enforcement lottery (84 words)

A report from public services union UNISON has found that postcodes determine the level of health and safety enforcement undertaken by local councils. Hugh ...

"Ban bullying" day (52 words)

Risks for funeral workers - correction (95 words)

Glutaraldehyde is not a carcinogen, according to a review of scientific literature. Mary Chervenak from the Dow chemical company says: "Although many studies discussing ...

Workers can claim damages under amended regulations (261 words)

New workplace safety and fire regulations that allow workers to claim damages for breaches of health and safety law came into force in October. ...

Equality news

Unions want review of sexual orientation law (331 words)

The TUC is co-ordinating a legal challenge to the forthcoming legislation that will outlaw discrimination against lesbian and gay workers. ...

Report finds lack of support on mental health (205 words)

Although two-thirds of employees say they or a work colleague have experienced a mental health problem, only 6% feel their line manager would be ...

Survey finds right to request flexibility has little impact (260 words)

The statutory right to request flexible working has not resulted in a significant rise in the number of workers wanting to alter their working ...

Reviews

Migrant and ethnic minority workers; Challenging trade unions (145 words)

European TUC, paperback, 112 pages, can be downloaded free from www.etuc.org/EN/dossiers and click on Racism and discrimination ...

Empire of capital (150 words)

Ellen Meiksins Wood, Verso, 184 pages, hardback, £15.00 ...

World poverty; New policies to defeat an old enemy (124 words)

Edited by Peter Townsend and David Gordon, The Polity Press, 454 pages, paperback, £25.00 ...

E-views

Eviews (380 words)

They are useful for constructing a website for a specific purpose, such as a campaign or event, which needs to be as full of ...